Harry Potter's Other Son
by ainouye
Summary: Albus is thirteen years old and has just started his second year at Hogwarts. His father's fame follows Albus everywhere, which is hard for a thirteen year old trying to find his own way. Albus feels like he is struggling to live up to not only Harry's legacy, but also his older brother James'. Slowly, the quiet boy learns he's better at some things than he thought.


Albus Severus Potter opened his eyes. It was the morning of September first, the day of the year he was dreading the most. It was the day everyone returned to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. While almost every other magical child was excited to return to the school, Albus could think of a hundred other things he would rather be doing. He liked the school and his classes well enough, it was just the constant pressure to be someone extraordinary that he hated. His whole life he had been compared to his brother James, his father, the Harry Potter himself, and the two wizards he was named after Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape.

"Well, Harold, I suppose it's time to get up and get packed," he told his pet owl as he got out of bed and shuffled out of his room towards the kitchen for breakfast.

"We don't want to miss the train," Albus grumbled to himself, even though he could think of nothing better. The smell of coffee and the sound of his mother, Jenny, singing lifted his foul mood for awhile.

"Sweetheart, don't worry too much about school. It's a new year full of new possibilities. Just try to do your best," Jenny told Albus while he was absent-mindedly playing with his food. She could see how worried he was. Jenny's mind drifted to her time at Hogwarts. Even with the constant fear of Lord Voldemort, her seven years spent at the school were some of the best years of her life. As a mother she worried about her middle child and could sense that he was struggling, and not just with school. While their oldest child James, had shown signs of magic from infancy, Albus was a completely different story. He did not show signs of having any magical abilities until he was ten years old. Even their youngest, Lily, was almost overflowing with magic at the age of nine.

Albus excused himself from the table, closely followed by James, and hurried back up to his room to finish packing. By ten o'clock both boys were packed and ready to leave for the train station. The Potters' parade of trunks and owls never seemed to amaze the muggles, non-magical people, at the train station. Albus still was not quite used to all of the stares, while James and Lily barely even noticed. All four of the Potters calmly walked right through the magical barrier onto the 9 ¾ platform.

"Alright boys, this is where we leave you," Jenny stated as she kissed each boy on the cheek. Lily was staring in awe of all of the witches and wizards on the platform and wished it were her turn to go to Hogwarts.

"Bye mum, I'll send you an owl after the first week," James told Jenny before racing off to find his friends.

"Albus, remember what I told you. It's a new year, and you never truly know what Hogwarts has in store for you. I know you wish your father was here to see you off, but the ministry just couldn't give him the day off. We love you," Jenny said as she tearfully hugged Albus goodbye. She watched him walk away only to stand by himself farther down the platform. She grabbed a distracted Lily away from a cart full of chocolate frogs and they walked back through the barrier between the nine and ten platforms. She hoped she was not making a mistake sending Albus back to Hogwarts.

Albus watched his mother and sister go from farther down the platform, homesick already. He boarded the train as soon as he heard the first call, and found himself and Harold a nice quiet seat near the front of the train. He was daydreaming and staring out the window when a quiet voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Is this seat taken?" Asked a small, awkward looking girl. She had brown hair and brown eyes, and somehow looked oddly familiar. Even though he knew it was impossible, he still wished he could have had the box completely to himself.

"No," Albus answered quietly. The girl sat down in the seat opposite him and introduced herself.

"I'm Alice. Alice Longbottom. I'm a first year. We've actually met before, but I don't think you remember me. Our parents are friends," the quiet girl stated. She looked almost as awkward as Albus felt. Flashbacks to his father's office Christmas parties suddenly filled Albus' mind. He remembered playing games with his brother and the other children while the adults drank butter beer and exchanged gifts. He somewhat remembered a younger version of the brown haired girl.

"Sorry, I remember you now Alice. Nice to see you again," Albus mumbled. The two continued to catch up and by the end of the train ride were sitting in comfortable silence. Albus could sense the girl's increasing nervousness the closer they got to the school. He felt the same way.

"Are you nervous about the sorting ceremony?" Albus asked Alice. She nervously nodded. He remembered the night of his sorting like it was yesterday. He was almost like his father when he asked the hat for any of the houses but Slytherin. Albus was quickly sorted into Gryffindor, but doubted the hat's decision. He remembered telling himself that it had made a mistake.

"You don't have to be nervous, the hat takes what you want into consideration too," he told the girl.

"The hat heard me when I said I didn't want to be in Slytherin," Albus said again, trying to comfort the girl. Alice nodded appreciatively.

"I want to be in Gryffindor because that's the house my father was in, but my mother was in Ravenclaw. I don't know which I would rather be in, I just want to make them proud," she almost whispered. Albus could relate. He almost felt like he had no other choice than Gryffindor since his entire family was in it, or had been in it. As he was thinking this the Hogwarts Express came to a stop and students started to unload their things.

"I'll see you later Albus, it was nice talking to you. Hopefully I won't be late for anything," Alice said as she grabbed her things and exited the box. Albus waved after her, got up, grabbed his things, and exited the train. Even though Hogwarts was not his favorite place, he still marveled at the sight of it every time he saw it. The ancient castle, once almost destroyed in the last fight between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort, had since returned to its former glory. Every window seemed to glow with candlelight, welcoming all of the students back from their summer vacations.

The first night went by in a blur for Albus. After the sorting ceremony, all of the students returned to their house dormitories and were able to meet the new members of their houses. Among the new first year Gryffindors was Alice. Albus was almost relieved to see a friendly face in the crowd. The following day all of the students started their classes. Albus was almost excited about his class schedule this semester since last semester he had been stuck in classes such as Dueling and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Neither of which he was particularly good at. Almost all of his teachers almost expected him to be a progeny like his father or his brother.

"This semester is going to be different. Maybe I can actually find something I'm good at," Albus thought to himself as he quickly walked to his first class, Potions.

"Welcome to Potions 1, class. I'm Professor Slughorn. I hope all of you had a chance to pick up your potions kit, if not there might be a few used ones in the back. Today we will start off with something very basic, but very useful… Safety!" Slughorn droned on about the standard safety procedures while Albus read ahead in his book. He was eager to actually start making something. Slughorn droned on the entire class and had put most of the students to sleep by the time class was over. Albus was sure he was the only one still awake.

"Mr. Potter, a word in my office after class?" Slughorn looked at Albus expectantly. Albus gulped, scared he had done something wrong already. He followed Slughorn out of the laboratory and into his office.

"Sir," Albus asked, nervously sifting from foot to foot. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes, sit down, sit down dear boy," Slughorn said as he flopped into his chair. The ancient old man stared at Albus expectantly as he took a seat. "I just wanted to tell you how excited I am to have another one of Harry Potter's children in class," Slughorn said. "Your father was one of my best students, as I'm sure you will be also. I look forward to seeing what you are capable of. Alright, that's all boy. Better get to your next class, I'll see you tomorrow."

As Slughorn waved him out Albus could not help but feel disappointed. Almost every single one of his new professors that day gave him the same speech. Albus returned to the Gryffindor commons that afternoon annoyed and angry.

"Bloody hell," he thought. Unlike most of his classmates, he had almost enjoyed Potions until Slughorn's little speech about his father. Unbeknownst to Slughorn, Albus' father had actually cheated his way through his Potions class back when he was still at Hogwarts. Albus recalled his father jokingly telling the boys the stories of all near-perfect potions he had made, and their aunt Hermione getting angry about it.

Weeks went by and nothing had really changed for Albus, he was still struggling to enjoy his time at Hogwarts. He had joined Slughorn's Potions Club, which was interesting enough, but Potions class was his only escape. Albus had finally found something he was good at, and something he enjoyed. Around Christmas time, Slughorn announced a new Potions contest.

"This year's finals will be a bit different. This contest is mandatory for all Potions 1 classes and your grade will be determined by the quality of the potion you have to create. This contest is also open to advanced Potions classes too. I, along with some of the other professors, will judge your work. Whoever wins this contest will receive extra credit, along with a special prize," Slughorn explained to the class. While other students groaned unenthusiastically, Albus was suddenly filled with excitement, he had to win this contest. He looked around the room at this competition, or lack thereof. Albus' mind was still on the contest when Slughorn dismissed the class.

The day of the contest finally arrived. Albus had spent days preparing himself by studying in the library and practicing in the potions lab. As he set up his work station a fourth year claimed the vacant spot next to him. Albus looked up and saw, with annoyance, that it was his brother James.

"Hello, little brother. Are you ready to lose today?" James asked playfully. Albus just huffed in response. Slughorn and the other judges walked in just as James was about to tease Albus some more.

"Alright students, the day has arrived! I hope you are all prepared. The potion we are asking you to make is not a common one, but not extremely difficult either. We ask that you make for us an antidote for the Draught of Living Death potion. This is not one that we teach here at Hogwarts, but if you studied and came here prepared you can create it," Slughorn explained as he looked at all of the students expectantly. Albus also looked around to see confusion and fear in most of the students' faces, even James'. Thankfully, when he was preparing for the contest he had read a book in the library full of random and uncommon potions. This antidote had been in there.

Albus was the first to move to the ingredients table, most of the other students followed his lead. He remembered everything almost perfectly, the only part of the instructions he could not remember was how long to stir the brewing potion for. He looked over at James' work station and to his delight saw that James had added a wrong ingredient. Albus returned to his work and by the time the professors called the time, he had a potion he was proud of.

Slughorn and the other judges walked from one table to another, studying the potions. Albus was excited and nervous as they came to his. The judges glanced at his potion briefly before continuing onto the next. As soon as they had taken a look at all of the potions, they announced the top five that they would test, which included Albus and James. Albus was so nervous when they were called up to the front of the classroom, he just wanted to prove he was actually good at something.

"My, my, this is quite a good potion Mr. Potter," Slughorn said while taking a second look at Albus' potion. Albus almost held his breath while Slughorn dropped a dead blackened leaf into his potion. He hated being first.

"As you all know, the purpose of this potion is to heal and repair damage that has been done by the Draught of Living Death. So if made correctly, then this leaf should turn green again," Slughorn explained to everyone watching. Albus exhaled as soon as Slughorn pulled a leaf out of this potion. The leaf was green. There was mumbling all around the room and a polite round of applause.

"At least all of those late nights of studying were worth it," Albus thought, pleased with himself. He watched as the next three potions failed at bringing the leaf back to life again. James was the last of the five to undergo the test. Albus again held his breath as he watched Slughorn perform the test.

"It looks like we have a tie," Slughorn announced to the class as he held up another green leaf. Albus' heart dropped. His brother almost always had to outdo him. He watched as Slughorn and the other judges debated on what to do, since they had not expected a tie.

"Alas, since we had not expected one student, let alone two, to correctly make this potion, we decided in a tie-breaker," Slughorn told the room.

"This time we ask you to create for us a good batch of Polyjuice potion," Slughorn told Albus and James excitedly. Albus was almost relieved with the news. While Polyjuice was difficult to make, Albus had already made batches of it. He knew the instructions like the back of his hand just from all the practice he had done in the lab at the beginning of the year. As he walked to the ingredients table he took a peek over at James, who looked lost. While Albus had buried his nose in a Potions book and took to the lab to practice, James had always been out with his friends practicing Quidditch on their broomsticks.

Albus returned to his work station and began his Polyjuice potion. Albus lost track of time as he worked. When he was finally done, he had another potion he was proud of. Again, he looked over at James. His brother looked grossed out at whatever sat on his work station. The judges came over and looked at both boys' work. One judge took a sample from James' potion, while another took a sample from Albus'. They both drank their samples and waited for the results. Albus' judge started to transform right in front of everyone's eyes into Albus himself, while nothing happened to James' judge.

"Well everyone, there you have it. We have a clear winner!" Slughorn excitedly told the class as he shook Albus' hand. There was a round of applause for both boys then all of the other students started to clean up.

"Congratulations, little brother. I knew you were going to beat me the whole time," James told Albus grinning. He also shook Albus' hand then turned to clean up his work space. Albus smiled back. He had finally proved to everyone that he was not just James' little brother, or Harry Potter's other son. He had finally found something he enjoyed and was good at. Albus was one of the last to leave the Potions lab. He turned and glanced at the room one last time.

"This is just the beginning," Albus thought to himself before he closed the door. He returned to Gryffindor commons happier than he had ever been at Hogwarts.


End file.
